Spring is here, and the D.C. tech community is filling up desks and executive offices as the weather brightens up. We rounded up some of the biggest names that switched companies, stepped down or got promoted and ordered new business cards in April and May.
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Publicly traded McLean cybersecurity firm Cyren will appoint Brett Jackson as its new CEO following the May departure of Lior Samuelson, who announced in February he would step down as chief executive but remain chairman. Jackson was most recently CEO of Nashville-based artificial intelligence startup Digital Reasoning, which raised $30 million last year from investors including BNP Paribas, Barclays, Goldman Sachs and Nasdaq.
Kamal Advani was named CEO of Reston-based BridgeStreet, an international hospitality company, following the departure of Sean Worker, who’s leaving to pursue other interests. Advani is a BridgeStreet board member and managing director of Versa Capital Management, the company's controlling shareholder. The firm recently launched its online booking platform that allows travelers to book extended-stay hotels, homes and vacation rentals in more than 130 countries.
Octo Consulting Group named two executives to lead its growth spurt. Jay Shah, VP of Octo’s health business unit, has been named COO and will take over for Robert McCord, who has served as president and COO since 2015. Pamela Rothka, formerly a top exec at Buchanan & Edwards, was recruited as its new CFO.
Herndon, Va.-based satellite startup HawkEye 360 is bolstering its ranks by hiring Chris Herndon as chief information officer. Herndon brings more than 30 years of experience in IT systems, most recently as the White House Deputy Assistant to the President and the Director of White House Information Technology. Before that, he founded management consulting company TechCentrics. HawkEye also recently announced that James Winnefeld, Jr., the former U.S. Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Douglas Loverro, former U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for space policy, joined its advisory board.
After acquiring two contractors in February to boost its data offerings, Applied Insight announced a change of leadership with a new CFO. The technology contractor brought on Mehdi Cherqaoui to serve as its finance chief, among a series of executive moves following its purchase of Applied Technology Group and Stratus Solutions. Cherqaoui previously spent four years as COO and CFO of Arlington government IT company Phacil, as well as stints at defense contractor PAE and KPMG.
Cybersecurity analyzer Verodin hired a slew of executives in sales, marketing and biz dev. It appointed Tracey Moon as chief marketing officer, Lyndon Brown as VP of business development, and Michael Persechini and Neil Hall as sales VPs. The McLean-based company, which analyzes the effectiveness of corporate cybersecurity programs, is coming off a busy 2018: It raised a $20 million funding round in June and hired Colby DeRodeff as its CTO in November.
Publicly traded cybersecurity firm Tenable brought on industry veteran Terry Dolce to oversee global business development. He joins the Columbia, Md.-based company from Crowe LLP, an advisory firm where he oversaw governance, risk and compliance. Dolce was also global sales chief of staff at RSA Security. As Tenable's first senior VP of global business development and channels, Dolce will be responsible for growing its international profile – a major focus of the company's growth strategy, according to its annual report.
